Has Capitalism failed or are people just too stupid to handle it these days?

I keep hearing how Capitalism is a failed ideology, but I do not believe that. It has worked fine for hundreds of years, until people became too irresponsible and stupid to fend for themselves. Capitalism is the system on which the great advances of the Western World came about. Our forefathers did not have a problem living in a capitalistic world, in fact they thrived. Why is that?
1. Because they lived within or below their means.
2. Because they saved.
3. Because they invested.
4. Because they didnt look to government to protect them.
5. Because they werent overly greedy.
6. Because they didnt compete with their neighbors in the areas of materialism.
7. Because they believed in the importance of personal responsibility.

So what is the problem with Capitalism these days.
Is greed the problem?

Is a lack of education the problem?

Is laziness the problem?

Is lack of the ability to save the problem?

Is government intervention the problem?

Is a generation of people that think they are too good to work menial labor the problem?

Please help me to see the problem with Capitalism. The only problem I see is a society of people that are either too stupid or too irresponsible to handle it.

people are probably just too stupid...

but i will most likely always choose that if its one of the options.

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


LOL, great answer. Stupidity does usually measure pretty high on the list of reasons things go bad in the world. Maybe we do need the government to take care of us and wipe our butts after all.

First off Americans have been lied to for a long time. I can't tell you the last time we actually had a capitalistic market in this country. But what he have now is far from it. We have state corporatism. Corporate America has been in bed with government for atleast 50 years. I'd say more than any other factor i.e. greed, stupidity is the fact that government has grown exponentially in the last 50 years. It's nuts! People want to point to our economic problems as a result of unfettered capitalism. Bull#.

But to answer your question from a philosophical standpoint, with capitalism is akin to liberty. With both come individual responsibility, accountability, and honesty. You need all of these things in order to have individual liberty. You also need all of these things to have economic liberty as well. I think as a whole people are just more greedy, less honest, less responsible, less informed, etc. People want to take all the risks of making money without accepting the consequences of those risks if they don't work in their favor. Well that's where the government comes in. Anyways, I could go on and on about this subject.

Bottomline is government is the biggest problem right now to a free and fair capitalistic market. But what the hell do you expect from a government that is controlled by the corrupt Federal Reserve. The people's ability to create their money is corrupted so why is it so hard to believe that our economy is corrupted as well. Like I said capitalism hasn't failed, we haven't had it for a LONG time.

reply to post by Zosynspiracy


This was my reply as well. We don't have a capitalistic market and haven't in a long time. Never in my lifetime.

reply to post by Zosynspiracy


A star for you and a great point. There is way too much interference by government in the free enterprise system. That is why we would all be much better off with a much smaller and less intrusive government. It is pretty bad when the Communist Chinese can do a better job of supporting Capitalism than the USA.

The problem with capitalism today is the emergence of the 'Mega Corporation'. The part that made the free market system work was the diversity of sources for any given product. Now these Corporations just keep gobling up other Corporations until they are huge conglomorates, and then when they fail, we have to bail them out because it would cripple the economy.

It is not that people are stupid, they are just screwed over by the elite.
The real reality of it is, is that the world is owned by 14-15 people.

reply to post by JaxonRoberts


Very good point Jaxon. I do see a bit of a problem with this. Actually, I think this is driven by the greed of the investors in the corps. They keep demanding revenue growth, and to do that once you hit a certain size then you have to acquire other companies to drive that growth.

reply to post by The Killah29


The world is not owned by 14-15 people. Do you not own a car or house or something?

Originally posted by grapesofraft
Is a lack of education the problem?
The only problem I see is a society of people that are either too stupid or too irresponsible to handle it.

Yes yes yes yes and yes.

And yes.

That's the problem with it.

By the way, yes.

reply to post by Kaytagg


LOL, I totally agree that people for whatever reason have become too stupid and/or too irresponsible to handle capitalism or even freedom for that matter. How did it get this way?

reply to post by grapesofraft


Working people are waking up and realizing that there are 3 kinds of people in capitalism;

1. Those at the top.
2. Those who do all the work.
3. Those who don't do anything.

Group 1 and 3 leech all the reward of capitalsim from group 2.

reply to post by grapesofraft



While this is very good for the Corporation, it is very bad for the consumer. You then have to factor in the ability to lobby lawmakers which they would not have if they were limited in size. We don't need to dump capitalism, but we do need to limit the size of Corporations. Look at the break up of ATT in the 80's. They were the largest corporation in the world, and once they were broken up, several companies were then allowed to compete for the consumer's business. Before this breakup, Sprint, Verizon, etc. did not and could not exist.

Capitalism hasn't failed.

Capitalism has reached its illogical conclusion.

Those with power stand to gain even more because of their position BOUGHT with said power. To the point that they effectively subjugate everyone below them through mindless trivial pursuits and lowered educational standards.

Now it is time to replace it.

reply to post by JaxonRoberts


Well I see your point but I also remember that ATT was a government allowed monopoly and that this was the biggest problem. Really if you look at the new ATT it is not that much smaller, but it is not a government protected monopoly.

But I do kind of agree that it wouldnt be a bad thing to limit the size of corps or I for sure agree that we shouldnt bail them out if they fail, no matter how painful that may be.

Originally posted by JayinAR
Capitalism hasn't failed.

Capitalism has reached its illogical conclusion.

Those with power stand to gain even more because of their position BOUGHT with said power. To the point that they effectively subjugate everyone below them through mindless trivial pursuits and lowered educational standards.

Now it is time to replace it.

See I do not see that as their fault if we fail to get a good education. If we fall to "mindless trivial pursuits and lowered educational standards" then that is our own fault. No one can make you make stupid decisions. That is why their is a high need for personal responsiblity.

Also, I see this kind of downturn going along the lines as a downturn in placing morality above our own personal desires. I think the decline in religion has led to part of this. Not that I am saying it is God punishing us, but that religious and moral values help us to keep our personal desires in check.

Originally posted by grapesofraft
That is why their is a high need for personal responsiblity.

Regretfully, we live in a society that blames others for everything. Look at some of the absolutely ridiculous lawsuits. Like the woman who won a 2 million dollar settlement for placing hot coffee between her legs at the McDonalds drive-thru. It wasn't her fault, it was McDonald's for making the coffee hot! Taking resposibility for one's own actions is a thing of the past.

reply to post by grapesofraft


Standards in education have been lowered by the Government.

It has been 150+ years since the liberal arts was removed from public education.
The latest lowering was the No Child Left Behind bill.

It is an orchestrated event.
And why not? America already has everything, right? No need for the people to work hard when everything they need is provided free of charge.

Look around at the average American. It is truly sickening the level of idiocy displayed in this country. I go from being frustrated to downright infuriated at it.

People are more caught up on the fact that a Pop Icon has died than the fact that the Government is ramrodding the most destructive bill to our personal liberty to ever be proposed through the Senate as we speak.
Not that it matters much, the majority of Americans are too stupid to realize that the bill is destructive in the first place.
Nay, they actually applaud it.

Oh well, in the end, people reap what they sow. That goes for the people to unwilling to govern themselves and the evil scum bastards who are charged to do it for them... Responsibly and for their benefit.



[edit on 29-6-2009 by JayinAR]

reply to post by JayinAR


Jay you cannot blame the government if you or your children fail to get a good education. Nobody is stopping you from teaching yourself or your children other things in your spare time. You can even homeschool them if you like. The government offers free education and you get what you pay for. It is important to not look to the government as the end all be all to all of lifes needs.